This invention relates to a disposable wearing article adapted to absorb and to hold excretion discharged thereon.
Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 1992-354948A describes a disposable pants comprising a liquid-pervious topsheet, a liquid-impervious backsheet and a liquid-absorbent core disposed between the top- and backsheets, configuring a front waist region and a rear waist region opposed to each other and a crotch region extending between these waist regions so that the front and rear waist regions may be bonded together along side edge portions thereof to define a waist-opening and a pair of leg-openings.
In the pants disclosed in the Publication, the elastic member comprising a plurality of elastic elements being stretchable in the waist-surrounding direction is attached under tension to the peripheral edge portion of the waist-opening. Similarly, the elastic members each comprising a plurality of elastic elements being stretchable in the leg-surrounding direction are attached under tension to the peripheral edge portions of the respective leg-openings. The peripheral edge portion of the waist-opening is provided with the leak-barrier cuff exclusively for the waist-opening extending in the waist-surrounding direction. This leak-barrier cuff has the fixed end portion lying on the peripheral edge portion of the waist-opening and bonded to the pants, the free end portion extending from the fixed end portion toward the crotch region and fixed side portions lying on the transversely opposite side edge portions of the front and rear waist regions and bonded to the pants. The elastic member being stretchable in the waist-surrounding direction is attached with tension to the fixed side portions. With this leak-barrier cuff, the free end portion rises on the topsheet to form the barrier as the elastic member associated with this leak-barrier cuff contracts.
In the case of the pants disclosed in the Publication, the fixed side portions of the leak-barrier cuff are placed upon the elastic member associated with the waist-opening and the rising fulcrum zone of the leak-barrier cuff lies adjacent the elastic member associated with the waist-opening. Such arrangement is disadvantageous in that the fixed end portion as well as the free end portion of the leak-barrier cuff contract in the waist-surrounding direction as the elastic member associated with the waist-opening contracts. Contraction of the free end portion of the leak-barrier cuff generates a plurality of creases or gathers. As a result, the free end portion partially rises on the topsheet and partially collapses toward the topsheet. The parts collapsed toward the topsheet can not function as the barrier and there is an apprehension that excretion discharged on the pants might flow beyond these collapsed parts of the leak-barrier cuff and leak out from the peripheral edge portion of the waist-opening.
An object of this invention is to provide a disposable wearing article configured so that a free end portion of a leak-barrier cuff associated with a waist-opening is not collapsed even partially toward a topsheet and reliably functions as a barrier adapted to prevent excretion from leaking.
According to this invention, there is provided a disposable wearing article comprising a liquid-pervious topsheet, a liquid-impervious backsheet, a liquid-absorbent core, configuring a front waist region, a rear waist region and a crotch region extending between these front and rear waist regions, longitudinally opposite end portions extending in parallel to each other in a first direction across the front and rear waist regions, respectively, transversely opposite side edge portions extending between the longitudinally opposite end portions in a second direction, elastic members being stretchable in the first direction attached under tension to the longitudinally opposite end portions so as to be associated with a waist-opening, elastic members being stretchable in the second direction attached with tension to the transversely opposite side edge portion in the crotch region so as to be associated with respective leg-openings, and a substantially liquid-impervious leak-barrier cuff associated with the waist-opening extending in the first direction across at least the rear waist region of the front and rear waist regions.
According to this invention the leak-barrier cuff has a fixed end portion lying adjacent one longitudinal end portion of the article, a free end portion extending the fixed end portion toward the crotch region and fixed side portions lying on respective the side edge portions wherein elastic member being stretchable in the first direction is attached under tension to the free end portion so that the free end portion may be biased by the elastic member to rise on the topsheet and a rising fulcrum zone of the leak-barrier cuff may lie in a substantially non-contractible region of the article extending between the elastic member associated with the waist-opening and the elastic member associated with the leg-openings.
According to one embodiment of this invention, a substantially liquid-impervious cover sheet having a central opening which is relatively long in the second direction is provided on the outer surface of the topsheet and bonded to the longitudinal opposite end portions as well as to the transversely opposite side edge portions and the leak-barrier cuff extends on the outer surface of the cover sheet in the first direction so that the free end portion may form a barrier rising on the cover sheet.
According to another embodiment of this invention, the opening of the cover sheet extends across the crotch region and further extends into the front and rear waist regions so that the free end portion of the leak-barrier cuff may extend above the opening in the front and rear waist regions.
According to still another embodiment of this invention, the leak-barrier cuff is defined by a part of the cover sheet extending outward from the longitudinally opposite end portions of the article in the second direction and folded back along the longitudinally opposite end portion toward the outer surface of the cover sheet.
According to a further embodiment of this invention, the leak-barrier cuff is defined by a part of the backsheet extending outward from the longitudinally opposite end portions of the article in the second direction and folded back along the longitudinally opposite end portions toward the outer surface of the topsheet.
According to a further additional embodiment of this invention, the rising fulcrum zone of the leak-barrier cuff is spaced apart from the elastic member associated with the waist-opening by a dimension of 5xcx9c15 mm.
According to a further alternative embodiment of this invention, the rising fulcrum zone of the leak-barrier cuff lies in the vicinity of the longitudinal end of the core extending between the transversely opposite side edge portions of the article.